Another interesting development in 2000 was the shake-out of the dot com’s and the shift of the Internet to a somewhat higher level of maturity in its structure and operation. The shake-out of the ‘wild west’ and ‘gold rush’ dimensions of the Net, and the early signs of market normalization or maturity, particularly in the area of e-commerce, suggests that the Internet is being formed and is developing into structural and operational norms comparable to those found with traditional products and services. At the same time, it is maintaining many of the innovative benefits for institutional and individual communication, such as distributed access and production, individual transactions, etc.

More than two thirds of Canadians report that the Internet has become universally available to them. At the same time, questions about affordability, sufficient capacity, value and relevancy remain outstanding for many individuals, neighbourhoods and communities. However, while the Internet has the potential to be used to achieve many progressive social and economic objectives, the realization of these objectives depends on the successful interventions by the full range of interests (individuals, government, communities, business, social organizations) as part of decision-making in the design of access and content services.

This study is primarily concerned with issues of access at the level of the individual and the household. Other research complements the analysis of this study and helps form the broader context for understanding the development, use and benefits or drawbacks of the Internet in Canada.³

³ See for example, EKOS Research Associates Inc. Rethinking the Information Highway studies; Statistics Canada studies and reports on the Internet and other communication technologies; and for work on community level access, V. Rideout, "Public Access to the Internet and the Canadian Digital Divide", forthcoming, 2001.